Chapter 85

(Quite long)

"What, what is this?! Who are you?!"

The one who shouted was the person inside the cell.

Six people were crammed into the small cell, all wearing the same hemp clothing. They all looked pale and thin, probably due to poor food.

"You're not a soldier, are you? You suspicious guy!"

I can understand how they feel.

If someone in desert camouflage suddenly appeared, I would be surprised too. Since this is a resident of another world, the shock must be three times as great.

"Don't worry about the details. Do you guys want to get out?"

"Huh? Of course we want to get out, we want to see our families."

They looked at each other and murmured that they wanted to get out.

"If you cooperate, I'll let you out."

"What do you want us to do?"

"I have the keys to the cells, but I have no idea which key fits which lock. I'll give you all the keys, so I want you to try them one by one."

"Keys?! How do you have such a thing?!"

"I don't have time to explain. This is the only chance while the soldiers are thin. If you help me, I'll give you weapons too."

"What, what do we do?"

Looking at the six people crammed into this small cell, it seems I was treated like a VIP after all.

"There's no other choice! The country won't listen to us anyway! We can see that we'll be killed soon!"

"Yeah, and we won't last long with this food. I'll do anything to see my family!"

"Alright. Then take this."

I threw the bundle of keys into the cell.

"Say the same thing, get their agreement, and free them one by one. And I'll leave the weapons here."

Saying that, I started taking out the [Piratus Kingdom Standard Soldier's Long Sword = 36,200 yen] one by one. I didn't take them all out at once due to the container space issue.

I bought 100 swords and piled up 101 swords in front of the cell.

Remaining balance: 4,784,901 yen.

"W-What did you just do?!"

"Don't think too much, just focus on surviving and escaping."

"O-Okay."

The six people who were freed took the swords and keys and ran to different iron bars.

Within ten minutes, dozens of prisoners were freed and armed with swords.

"Hey, what are you going to do now...?"

"What the hell is going on?!"

A shout came from the back.

"Ah! It's a guard!"

"Kill him! Kill him!"

"You bastards! How dare you treat us like this!"

"I want to see my family!"

Before I could say anything, the soldier who appeared from the back was instantly stabbed to death. I couldn't see much because of the crowd, but the state of the corpse I saw later and the screams gave me a good idea.

"Head for the exit!!"

"You guys, free the prisoners in the next area! There are keys in that room too!"

"Which way is the exit?!"

"Move it, you bastards!"

"Escape... gahhh!"

"Ah! I'm on your side... gahhh!"

"Shut up! It's your fault for stopping!"

"Move, move!"

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

"Where is the exit?!"

"How dare you treat us innocents like this!"

"Free our comrades first!"

"Prisoners? Report it to the higher-ups! Seal the entrance!"

"Captain! Then we will—"

"Damn it! Just prisoners, what are you—"

"They have weapons!"

"What?!"

"Moreover, not just one or two... gahhh!"

"Damn it! Shit! Retreat! We'll intercept them upstairs... gahh!"

"Captain!"

"Damn it! Not here!"

"Gahh!"

"Gahhh!"

"Kill them!"

It quickly turned into a hellish scene.

The situation was worse than I imagined.

Even though I chose this path, I didn't expect it to get this bad.

This isn't Japan. In this world, killing and being killed is a daily occurrence.

I suppressed my nausea. It seems that prisoners from other areas were also freed, and a huge number of prisoners were rushing to the exit.

The weapons were quickly depleted, meaning there were over 100 prisoners. Of course, this assumes that no one took multiple weapons, but I was standing in front of the pile of weapons, so I don't think there were any fools.

The group rushed to the exit, overlapping and shouting. It's no wonder the soldiers were fleeing.

The narrow passage was clogged, and angry shouts filled the air from the people at the back. However, they were making progress, so it seems they managed to break through the entrance blockade.

I intended to lead the charge, but my equipment would be wasted.

I felt a sense of relief, though it was embarrassing.

I tried to equip non-lethal gear, but thinking about it, they wouldn't spare the soldiers even if I didn't kill them. I felt my powerlessness again, realizing the flaws in my plan.

—Just focus on getting out alive.

I was about to follow the prisoners slowly with my rifle when a voice came from behind.

"You bastards! I won't forgive you!"

A soldier who was bleeding from the forehead got up and shouted. He seemed to have been ignored, thought to be a corpse.

The soldier drew his sword and lunged at me with a thrust.

I instinctively aimed my rifle and pulled the trigger, but it remained silent.

"Shit!"

"Die!"

"You die!"

In the moment of panic as I realized the safety was on, the soldier's thrust aimed at my face.

I'm going to die!

Just as I thought that, the prisoners next to me swung their swords at the soldier. The clash of swords produced a high-pitched sound, and the tip of the sword only grazed my forehead.

Three prisoners, without any swordsmanship, were swinging their swords wildly, but it was enough to keep the soldier at bay.

I took off the safety and shouldered the rifle.

Four consecutive explosions echoed.

Damn, I forgot about the earplugs.

My right ear was ringing and I felt a bit dizzy.

Finger trigger is hard!

Three prisoners collapsed on the spot and looked at me with wide eyes.

The soldier, hit by the lethal rounds at close range, was unconscious and not moving.

Honestly, it's not surprising he's dead at such close range. I hope he's not...

"Hey... Is that... an artifact?"

One of the collapsed prisoners asked. My ears were still ringing, but I managed to understand.

"Sort of..."

While giving a vague answer, I approved the earplugs in the SHOP.

[Earplugs = 140 yen]

Remaining balance: 4,784,761 yen.

I put one in my right ear for now. I don't want to be completely deaf...

I turned to the front to move forward, and a large number of prisoners were looking back at me, frozen in place.

"Ah... Don't mind me."

It seems the mysterious weapon scared them. Of course, they would be shocked by such loud explosions.

I re-engaged the safety and lined up behind them. They were now quiet, occasionally glancing at me.

I feel bad.

Right now, escaping is the priority. I don't want to die yet. I won't think about the fact that I'm putting others in danger to survive. I'll stop if I think about it.

"Alright, let's go."

With renewed determination, I joined the end of the prisoners' line. Angry shouts echoed through the underground dungeon, which resembled an ant colony.

There were dead bodies scattered around. Not only were they stabbed with swords, but they were also kicked by the crowd, their limbs twisted like broken dolls from my childhood.

I felt bad as I moved forward, and finally reached a bright area.

"Outside?"

I squinted, unaccustomed to the light, and looked around. It seemed to be a small courtyard. I remember passing through such a place when I was brought here.

However, I also passed through the castle before that, so I need to enter the castle through a door somewhere.

The problem is that I don't remember at all which way I came.

The other prisoners were rushing to the three doors.

Just then, about six soldiers burst out of one of them. Seriously?!

The soldiers, with angry faces, rushed towards me.

"Oooh!"

Scary!

I took out the stun grenade hanging from my chest, pulled the pin, and threw it at them, then ran back as fast as I could, covering my left ear.

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